Like all parents I teach my kids to always tell the truth. Honesty is important. Very important. At the most basic level, if you always tell the truth, you don’t have to worry about remembering what you said. On another level, if you always tell the truth, then people will trust you in the future, accepting your word at face value. And of course, it’s nice to be able to look yourself in the mirror at night and know you did the right thing.

The media headlines these days are filled with tales of corporate dishonesty. The list is long, and the transgressions differ. But it all boils down to the same thing…important people who wielded an incredible amount of power have lied. Bernie Madoff. Eliot Spitzer. Jeffery Skilling. Kenneth Lay. Arthur Anderson. And for those of you in the tri-state area, Eddie Antar.

These days corporations seem to disclose things in itty bitty print buried in a revised terms and conditions document. My bank did this to me recently. They started charging me for online banking. (I mean seriously. They WANT me to do online banking. It makes me a loyal customer, remember?) I am sure they sent me a notice that I missed somehow.

Regardless, I don’t feel like they looked me in the eye and stated, “Susan, based on the type of checking account you have, we must charge you $4.95 per month to pay your bills online.” Turns out that the type of account that I opened, about 8 mergers ago, was no longer available and wasn’t eligible for free online bill pay.

However, based on my activity, and my relationship with my bank, I do qualify for free online bill payment. The bank had to “upgrade” the type of account I had, which from my perspective meant that they just had to change the name of the account. I’d feel much better about my bank if they had more proactively reached out to me and suggested some changes. Honestly.

Perhaps if banks would clearly and simply state what they are doing, customers would trust them more. After all, isn’t it about the customer?

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